Embodiments of the invention relate to a cooking apparatus, and in particular to a cooking apparatus having an automated cleaning assembly to clean a surface of the cooking apparatus.
Grills for cooking apply heat from a lower heating plate and from an upper heating plate to opposite sides of a food item to decrease cook times and to cook food evenly. In conventional systems, an operator must lift the upper heating plate and manually scrape and clean the upper heating plate and the lower heating plate. Cleaning the plates may require that a user lean over the lower heating plate, which may require waiting until the heating plates cooled prior to cleaning the plates, or, if the plates are not cool, may result in accidental injury to a user.